Car-door brace.



' AMBROSE E. STARK, or AURORA, INDIANA.

can-noon BRAOE.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedMar. 11, 1919.

Application filed April 11, 1918; Serial N 0. 227,950.

To all whomz'tmay concern: I

Be it known that I, AMBRosE E. STARK, a citizen'of the UnitedStates, andaresident of Aurora, .in the county of Dearborn and State of Indiana,have invented new and useful Improvements in- Car- Door Braces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cardoor braces and has particular reference to that class of braces employed in connection with car doors of the longitudinal sliding type.

An important object of this invention is to provide in a device of the above mentioned character a means whereby the car door when moved to a closed position may be securely held therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a device of the above mentioned character a means whereby the thrust exerted upon the locking mechanism by the door may be entirely eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a device of the above mentioned character a means whereby a car door locked or braced in accordance with my invention may be easily and quickly unlocked in order to permit the same to be readily moved to an open position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the above mentioned character which is strong, durable, cheap to manufacture and reliable in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the'course of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a fragmental side elevation of a box car showing the device embodying my invention attached thereto,

Fig. 2 is a section view of Fig. 1 taken on line 22,

Fig. 3 is a section view of Fig. 1 taken on line 3-3,

Fig. 1 is a detail perspective view of a supporting element, and

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a brace bar.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred form of my invention, the numeral 10 indicates a box car provided with the conventional form of longitudinally sliding door 11. To thedoor. 11 and atone side thereof there is secured a supporting element indicated as a whole by the numeral 12. This supporting element comprises a face plate having an angularly bent portion 14. To the face plate 13 there is secured a lip 15 provided with an opening 16. This supporting element is secured to the door by means of bolts or the like 17 passed through openings 18 provided by the plate 13. It will be noted when this supporting element is applied to the door 11 as shown in Fig. 1 that the angularly bent portion 14 will engage a vertical edge of the door 11/. To the side of the box car 10 there is secured a stop indicated as a whole by the numeral 19. This stop is identical to that employed generally in the present box car construction except, however, I prefer to form a groove 20 therein which is adapted to receive the end of a brace bar 21. This brace bar is pivotally secured within the block 19 by. means of a I ,web 25 provided vwith an opening 26.

In use, the operation of the device is as follows: When the car door 11 is moved to the closed position shown in Fig. 1 the brace bar 21 is swung downward from the dotted line position to the full line position shown in Fig. 1, bringing the shoulder 23 into contact with the angularly bent portion 14 of the supporting element 12. The flange 24 is brought into engagement with the face plate 13 and the web 25 is brought into engagement with the lip 15. The web 25 being so positioned upon the lip 15 as to bring the openings 16 and 26 into registration whereupon the car door may be sealed in the usual manner by employing the conventional form of seal. WVhen it is desired to open the door the seal of course is broken allowing the brace bar 21 to be moved from the full line position to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 whereupon the door 11 may be moved in the usual manner to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as. a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

A car door brace comprising a block secured to the car, said block being provided with a longitudinally disposed groove, said groove being formed to provide diverging Walls Within said block, a brace bar hav ing one end pivoted Within said block, the other end of said bar being provided With a shoulder and a flange, said shoulder being arranged angularly with respect to said brace bar, said flange being arranged angularly with respect to said shoulder, a-Web provided With an opening, said Web being connected to said flange, shoulder and brace bar, a supporting element adapted to be secured to the'door of the box car, said supporting eleinent comprising a face plate provided with a lip having an opening therein and having an angularly bent portion, said angularly bent portion being adapted to engage the vertical edge of said door, said lip being adapted to engage said Web and having its opening arranged to. register with the opening of said web, said openings being adapted to receive a seaL.

AMBBQSE E., STARK.

Ucpies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eaeh, by addressing the Gommissiomerof Patents, "washin ton, i3. 

